A conventional steering wheel for a motor vehicle generally has a steering wheel hub with which the steering wheel can be attached rotationally fixedly to a steering column end. For this, the steering wheel hub may be formed on a base of a steering wheel part, in particular may be molded integrally onto the steering wheel part. A steering wheel rim, in which a driver of the motor vehicle inputs the actual steering movements, is fixedly connected via at least one spoke to the steering wheel part arranged substantially in the center of the steering wheel.
Furthermore it is known, on a crash test of the motor vehicle, to measure the moments and forces acting on the steering column as a result of a collision of the motor vehicle with an obstacle, using suitable force sensors, for example a load cell. A load cell is a receiver that transforms a mechanical force into an electrical signal. Amongst the many different designs of load cells, configurations based on strain gauges are by far the most common.
One example of a multiaxis load cell for detection of forces and moments is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,771,359.
A further multiaxis load cell, which may be used in a crash test of a motor vehicle in order to detect the loads acting on a steering column of the motor vehicle in a collision, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,618,376. For this, the load cell is interposed between a steering wheel hub of a steering wheel and an end of the steering column, i.e. the steering wheel is connected via its steering wheel hub to one end of the load cell, and the end of the steering column is connected to the other end of the load cell.
Similar arrangements in which a load cell is interposed between the steering column end and the steering wheel hub of a steering wheel are also disclosed in KR 100380487 B1 and KR 1019990043309 A.
The disadvantage of the known arrangement of the load cell between the steering column end and the steering wheel hub is, for example, that the steering column geometry, in particular the steering column end point, changes due to such an interposition of the load cell. Consequently, the steering wheel protrudes further into the passenger cell of the motor vehicle than is the case without the arrangement of the load cell. Thus, the distance between the steering wheel and a person sitting in the driver's seat of the motor vehicle changes, which may have an undesirable influence on the crash test results. Also, because of its design and weight, the load cell has an influence on the dynamic penetration of the steering column in the crash test. Furthermore, in order to mount the load cell, it may be necessary to remove trim parts on the steering wheel and/or switch stalks (e.g. direction indicator and/or windscreen wiper stalks) arranged on the side of the steering wheel.
In this context, the object of the present disclosure is to provide an improved steering wheel for a motor vehicle, in particular for use in a crash test, which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art.